Poor Erap, and so are we
The country has witnessed the promulgation of the guilty verdict of deposed Philippine President Joseph Estrada before the Sandiganbayan on September 12, 2007. Looking around, we see that Filipinos received the decision with a smorgasbord of reactions: some were expectant, others passive; some shocked, others unmoved; some angry or bitter, others gave a nod; some wailed, others raised a thumbs up sign.
Based on people's reactions, they are categorized, not anymore as pro-Erap or anti-Erap, but rather, as either a pro-Erap or a pro-Gloria. If you keep mum, or smile at the verdict, you are pro-Gloria. If you raise your voice and go to the streets, you are pro-Erap. At least, that is what both the administration and the opposition insist. And that is what the media escalates. It is like there is no other choice: either we support Gloria, or we rally behind Erap. We are being forced to create a large divide among ourselves.
From the many political issues that cropped up in the not-so-recent past — the Erap impeachment trial to his "resignation" that led to EDSA 2, the Erap arrest that brought about EDSA 3, the "Hello Garci" scandal that placed the presidency in crisis, the extrajudicial killings of journalists and communist members which point the blaming finger on Gloria and her generals, and now the Sandiganbayan's conclusion that Erap is guilty of plunder we have been thrown left and right to take sides: Erap or Gloria.
But looking harder into the reactions of the people, they do not seem to care anymore. On TV a day before the promulgation, the Erap camp warned there will be no less than 5,000 people who will stage a rally at the Commonwealth near Sandiganbayan to show a strong support for the deposed president and call for Gloria's ouster. The court session ended but not more than 400 people showed up. Now that is a stronger statement from the masses!
Perhaps, the whispered scream of the man on the streets is a simple, "poor Erap… and so are we." because after all the numerous rallies calling to free Erap and oust Gloria since 2001, some of them injured or jailed for rioting with policemen, or passed out due to heat, hunger, or fatigue, at the end of the day, nothing really changed. With streamers and megaphones, they cannot unseat Gloria. They cannot free Erap. They cannot change the crooked and corrupt political system the Philippines has thrown itself into. At the end of the day, they realized they are still poor. No fish on the table, no penny in the pocket. At the end of the day, they realized they have just been used. And they will continue to be used for as long as they will allow themselves to be used.
Now, right inside their respective shanties, they have issued a stronger statement: "Enough!"